Clemson recruiting: Pair of in-state prospects waiting in the wings?

There’s something in these hills, and Sam Butler and the
DieHards team have you covered on the Clemson recruiting trail as the defending national champions reload. Check here every
Monday-Friday to stay on top of the latest news and find every previous edition of the daily recruiting notebooks here.

Pair of in-state recruits hold promise down the line

Clemson is only taking a pair of commitments from the state of South Carolina — for now, at least — but a few
in-state prospects could be there for the Tigers in the future.

Zacch Pickens, a junior defensive end, is the top 2019 player
in the state per 247Sports rankings, and he’s made three trips to Clemson already. The T.L. Hanna (Anderson, S.C.) product
is just down the road from the Tigers, and each of the four Crystal Ball predictions for him have him ending up at Clemson.

Tonka Hemingway, another talented defensive end, is waiting one year after Pickens. Hemmingway is a 4-star prospect per
247Sports, even though he’s a sophomore. He’s already received 5 offers, and more are undoubtedly on the way.
There’s just one Crystal Ball pick in for him, but it’s for Clemson as well.

Noah Cain trending elsewhere?

In the Thursday notebook, we looked at the interest 2019 5-star running back Noah Cain had in Clemson. The IMG Academy
product visited Death Valley for the Georgia Tech game and left with an offer, and he’s said he hasn’t whittled
down his list of top schools yet.

Cain, who is from Baton Rouge (La.), visited LSU for its home finale against Texas A&M over Thanksgiving break, and
it went well. According to SEC
Country’s Sam Spiegelman, the Bayou Bengals are trending up for him and don’t appear to be slowing down any
time soon.

“LSU is definitely moving up toward the top spot right now,” Cain told Spiegelman. “I’ve been impressed with the new offense.
I believe I can thrive in the new offense. Everybody gets involved and it keeps it non-one-dimensional. There’s a lot of different
things going through the offense and I love what Coach [Matt] Canada is doing. They’re definitely moving up.”

One of LSU’s commitments in the 2019 cycle and fellow running back Tyrion Davis had some news that might not go Clemson’s
way. He told Spiegelman that the coaches at LSU want to fill in the running back depth for them, which has run dry a bit as
the Tigers look toward the future, and Cain is taking a liking to it. Having the opportunity to play for his hometown team
— where he would be the first running back from Baton Rouge LSU has had since 2007 — would mean a lot to him.

Sign of things to come?

Does Clemson kicker commit B.T. Potter know something? Perhaps.

He dropped a tweet on Thursday night at an awards banquet, saying ‘The next Clemson commit.” Lineman Jordan
McFadden is in the picture too, and he’s been trending toward flipping his commitment from Virginia Tech to Clemson.
McFadden plays in the state championship on Saturday, and an announcement could come soon after.